Fedor Emelianenko Free To Fight Randy Couture In The UFC

The long-awaited matchup between UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture and former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko has one less road block than originally believed.

M-1 Director of Operations Joost Raimond told USA Today on Thursday that Emelianenko’s current contracts with M-1 and Affliction wouldn’t prevent a potential bout against Randy Couture from taking place in the UFC.

The contracts that Fedor has at this point in time would allow for such a fight to take place, and specifically the Randy fight,” said Raimond, “so we’re free to make that happen if the opportunity presents itself.”

Though Raimond concluded by saying that the UFC isn’t “in the game plan” for the immediate future, Emelianenko’s contracts with other promotions, namely Affliction, were expected to be one of the biggest hurdles in signing a future fight between Emelianenko and Couture.